WNBA coach: Champion team hasn’t received White House invite

The head coach of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx is calling out the White House this week for failing to extend the traditional invitation to the league’s championship team.

In a tweet on Thursday, Cheryl Reeve pointed out that the Trump administration has invited men’s championship teams, ranging from the Golden State Warriors in the NBA to the Houston Astros in the MLB, for visits to the White House.

But her team, which beat out the Los Angeles Sparks in October to win the WNBA Finals, never received such an invitation. What’s more, she noted, women’s collegiate teams were lumped into a single ceremony at the White House.

Re White House:
1) President’s have recognized WNBA Champs dating back to Houston Comets
2) Golden State, UNC MBB, Bama Fball, Astros received an invite/visited within months of ‘ship.
3) Womens collegiate champs lumped together in 1 ceremony
4) WNBA Champs = no invite https://t.co/qBtkmXQciw

— Cheryl Reeve (@LynxCoachReeve) May 3, 2018

Presidents typically invite championship-winning sports teams to the White House for celebratory visits. 

{mosads}In an interview on the Sports Media Podcast on Wednesday, Reeve said the fact that her team had not been invited to the White House was “disappointing,” noting that former President Obama contacted the team almost immediately after each of their championship wins in 2011, 2013 and 2015.

“Upon winning, within 24 hours we would get notification that the White House was going to be calling us,” she said. “So anyone that was still in town, we would gather, and we would accept the call from the president, and we would have a conversation. It was meaningful and really, really special.”

The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

White House visits by winning sports teams have not always gone without a hitch under Trump. 

The president rescinded an invitation to the Golden State Warriors last year after the team’s point guard, Stephen Curry, said that he was considering foregoing the visit.

And Philadelphia Eagles still haven’t committed to a White House visit nearly three months after winning the Super Bowl.